Karl T. Ulrich is Professor and Chair of the Operations and Information Management Department at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvanina. He also holds a secondary appointment as Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics. Ulrich is the faculty director of Weiss Tech House, an incubator for fostering student innovation. Professor Ulrich has been a member of development teams for over 30 new products or processes, including medical devices, tools, computer peripherals, food products, and sporting goods. As a result of this development work, he has been granted 18 patents. From 1999-2002, while on leave from Wharton, Ulrich founded and managed Nova Cruz Products, Inc., a manufacturer of high-performance personal transportation products including the Xootr scooter. Professor Ulrich received the S.B., S.M., and Sc.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Steven D. Eppinger is Deputy Dean and General Motors LFM Professor of Management Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management. He also holds a joint appointment in the Engineering Systems Division. He received the S.B., S.M., and Sc.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He has served as the faculty co-director of MIT's two masters programs joint between the engineering and management schools- Leaders for Manufacturing and System Design and Management as well as an interdisciplinary research program- Center for Innovation in Product Development. Prof. Eppinger specializes in the analysis of complex product development efforts and works closely with the automobile, electronics, and aerospace industries. His research is aimed at the creation of improved product development processes and project management techniques. His teaching includes a graduate course in product development as well as several executive education offerings.